Biologically Active Orbitides from the Euphorbiaceae Family.

A comprehensive overview of natural orbitides isolated from Euphorbiaceae species and their most relevant biological activities are presented. Euphorbiaceae is a large and diverse family, which comprises about 300 genera, and is known as an important source of medicines and toxins. Several classes of secondary metabolites have been described for this taxon, however, orbitides have been broadly reported in Jatropha and Croton genera. Additionally, the latex is documented as the main source of orbitides in this family. Based on their structural and functional diversity, orbitides present a large variety of biological activities described as cytotoxicity, antimalarial, antibacterial, antifungal, enzymatic inhibition, and immunosuppressive, although the mechanism of action still needs to be further investigated. In recent years, the discovery of bioactive cyclic peptides from different sources has grown exponentially, making them promising molecules in the search for new drug leads. This review also highlights the attempts made by many researchers to organize the orbitides nomenclature and amino acid numbering, as well the important progress recently achieved in the biosynthetic study area.

Jatropha curcas Protein Concentrate Stimulates Insulin Signaling, Lipogenesis, Protein Synthesis and the PKCα Pathway in Rat Liver.

Jatropha curcas is an oil seed plant that belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family. Nontoxic genotypes have been reported in Mexico. The purpose of the present work was to evaluate the effect of a Mexican variety of J. curcas protein concentrate (JCP) on weight gain, biochemical parameters, and the expression of genes and proteins involved in insulin signaling, lipogenesis, cholesterol and protein synthesis in rats. The results demonstrated that short-term consumption of JCP increased serum glucose, insulin, triglycerides and cholesterol levels as well as the expression of transcription factors involved in lipogenesis and cholesterol synthesis (SREBP-1 and LXRα). Moreover, there was an increase in insulin signaling mediated by Akt phosphorylation and mTOR. JCP also increased PKCα protein abundance and the activation of downstream signaling pathway targets such as the AP1 and NF-κB transcription factors typically activated by phorbol esters. These results suggested that phorbol esters are present in JCP, and that they could be involved in the activation of PKC which may be responsible for the high insulin secretion and consequently the activation of insulin-dependent pathways. Our data suggest that this Mexican Jatropha variety contains toxic compounds that produce negative metabolic effects which require caution when using in the applications of Jatropha-based products in medicine and nutrition.

A review on pharmacological significance of genus Jatropha (Euphorbiaceae).

A number of herbs belonging to the genus Jatropha of Euphorbiaceae family are noted for their medicinal benefits. The genus Jatropha is one of the prospective biodiesel yielding crops. The plants which have been so far explored include J. curcas, J. gossypifolia, J. glandulifera, J. multifida and J. podagrica. Although, the plants of this genus are widely distributed, there is an exiguity of scientific literature proclaiming the medicinal benefits of the plants belonging to genus Jatropha. The present paper is a pragmatic approach to accrue the findings on this very significant genus.

[Genetic diversity and genetic relationship of Jatropha curcas L. in Sichuan and Yunnan evaluated by cpSSR markers].

OBJECTIVE: The genetic diversity and genetic relationship of Jatropha curcas resources in Sichuan and Yunnan were studied in order to provide a theoretical basis for breeding fine varieties and protecting germplasm resources. METHOD: Ten J. curcas populations were studied by 12 cpSSR primers in this paper. On the base of amplified bands, genetic diversity parameters were analyzed by POPGENE version 1.32. Furthermore, UPGMA tree of 10 J. curcas populations established from pairwise population distance by NTSYSpc version 2.10. RESULT: Twenty-two polymorphic bands were detected, and the percentage of polymorphic loci (P) was 76.28%. Among of the 10 J. curcas populations, the average percentage of polymorphic loci of YNSB was higher than that of the other populations, and it reached 95.45%; On the other hand, that of YNLS was the lowest in all populations, and it was 45.45%. Nei's gene diversity index(H(e)), Shannon information index(I), Effective Num of alleles(A(e)) were respectively 0.4020, 0.576 7, 1.713 6. The total gene diversity (H(T)), the gene differentiation coefficient (G(st)), the gene flow (N(m)) and the gene diversity within populations (H(s)) were 0.443 3, 0.080 2, 3.058 5, 0.405 1, 0.035 7, respectively. The highest gene diversity ratio was showed within populations and the lowest among populations. The results by AMOVA analysis showed that 91.02% of genetic variation existed within populations while 8.98% of genetic variation existed among populations. On the base of the results, the conclusion was extracted that variation existed mainly within populations, and the variation within populations was bigger than that among populations. The result was consistent with that of the gene differentiation coefficient. The order of the genetic diversity was YNLS population < XSBN population < SCHPZ population < SCHD population < SCJH population < YNPR population < SCLB population < YNSB population < YNFY population < SCHL population. The range of Nei's genetic identity and genetic distance of 10 respectively populations were respectively 0.812 7-0.979 8, 0.020 4-0.207 3. All these showed the similarity was higher and there was a close relationship among the 10 respectively populations; Results based on the cluster analysis showed that 10 respectively populations were divided into 2 groups: one was SCJH population and CHPZ population, the other was SCHL population, SCHD population, SCLB population, YNSB population, YNFY population, YNPR population, XSBN population and YNLS population. CONCLUSION: Significant genetic diversity was observed among respectively resources in Sichuan and Yunnan. On the other hand, genetic relationship was close between populations.

[Comparison of seed oil physicochemical characteristics among three cultivars of Jatropha curcas L].

Taking the cultivars Nanyou 1, 2, and 3 of barbadosnut (Jatropha curcas L. ) with different genotypes that can grow and seed normally at the inshore land in Hainan as test materials, the characters of their seeds and the physicochemical characteristics of their seed oils were analyzed and compared. No significant differences were observed in the seed length, width, thickness, and surface area among the cultivars, but Nanyou 2 had greater 1000 seed mass and lower unsound kernel percentage than Nanyou 1 and Nanyou 3, suggesting that the seed satiation of Nanyou 2 was good and the fecundity was excellent. The kernel oil content of Nanyou 3 was significantly higher than that of Nanyou 1 and Nanyou 2, and there was no significant difference between Nanyou 1 and Nanyou 2. The seed oil peroxide value, refractive index, and saponification value of the three cultivars had no significant differences, but the acid value for Nanyou 2 was much lower than that for Nanyou 1 and Nanyou 3. The seed oil iodine value of the three cultivars was all below 100, and was significantly lower for Nanyou 2 than for Nanyou 1 and Nanyou 3. The fatty acids in the three cultivars seed oils were mainly oleic acid, palmitic acid, linoleic acid, stearic acid, and margaric acid, and dominated by unsaturated fatty acids. The contents of saturated fatty acids in Nanyou 2 seed oil were relatively higher than those in Nanyou 1 and Nanyou 3 seed oils, indicating that comparing with Nanyou 1, cultivars Nanyou 2 and Nanyou 3 had relatively good potential for application.

[Oil contents and fatty acid composition in Jatropha curcas seeds collected from different regions].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the oil contents and fatty acid composition among the samples of Jatropha curcas L. seeds collected from China (Guangdong, Hainan, and Guizhou Provinces) and India. METHODS: Soxhlet extraction method and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were employed to determine the oil contents of Jatropha seeds and the fatty acid composition of Jatropha oil. RESULTS: The seed oil contents (dry basis) were 32.43% (Guangdong), 31.41% (Hainan), 37.56% (Guizhou) and 41.04% (India), respectively. Twelve different fatty acids were detected by GC-MS, and the content of total unsaturated fatty acids accounted for 80.93%, 79.53%, 77.24% and 78.22% of the total fatty acids in the samples collected from Guangdong, Hainan, Guizhou and India, respectively. CONCLUSION: There are differences in the oil contents and fatty acid composition among the J. curcas seeds collected from different regions, and attention should be given to these differences in the introduction and breeding of J. curcas.